Perfection is Overrated
by I Read More Than I Breathe
Summary: Annabeth's life is finally going right. The Giant War is over, Percy's back, and relations between the two camps are going swimmingly (Gods, if she is using words like that, she knows she has been spending too much time with Percy.) Everything is perfect, until a certain girl arrives whose parent... Well, let's just say Annabeth doesn't like her new sister. Rated T to be safe.


Chapter I

Annabeth

"Jackson!" I laughed as my idiot boyfriend was chased down by half the Ares cabin. In the next 10 minutes, Percy would probably be nursing serious wounds and moaning about it to me. But whatever. Now, I know what you're thinking. 'Oh, Annabeth, that is so irresponsible of you, you should help your boyfriend out, yada, yada, yada.' But I'll have you know that since it's Percy's own fault he's being beaten to within an inch of his life, I've got nothing to do with it. In fact, it's kinda funny. And finding it funny is kinda sadistic. But as I said, whatever, right?

Soon, though, I guess my awesome-girlfriend instincts kicked in, I punched some Ares kid in the nose and hauled Percy up, wiping off some of the blood. He only had a couple cuts, so I wasn't worried. He gave me his sad, lost puppy look and my heart almost melted. Gods, he was so cute when he did that! And he knew it.

"Why didn't you help..." He whined, rubbing his bruised shoulder.

"Hey," I chided, taking his hand off his shoulder and inspecting it for any more injuries."Don't do that. You're going to make it worse." He pouted some more, and winced when I prodded a particularly ugly cut. "Aw," I mock cooed. "Is Percy freakin' Jackson hurting? Want me to get your Mommy to make it better?" He glared at me, but he couldn't stay mad at me for long. Not because I was totally sweet or anything. No, it was because I pinned him to the nearest cabin and kissed him. In seconds he was putty in my hands. And that both thrilled and scared me. But right then I just focused on kissing him. Hard. His lips responded and we moved in sync. His hands rested comfortably on my hip and my neck. I tangled my hands into his hair and my heartbeat adjusted to match his. Gods, I loved him.

We would have kept going, but then we heard someone clearing their throat. I pulled away as fast as I could, combing my curls in my fingers. Grover was standing a few feet away when I turned, Percy's heavy breathing was still tickling my ears. His arms snaked around my waist, and at that Grover blushed even more. Percy rolled his eyes and made some comment about how he and Juniper did the same thing, but I wasn't paying attention. I was looking at Grover's face.

For years, I had learned to read people. It was a survival skill. And Grover was easy to read, so no effort was really involved. He was uncomfortable, and not just because he just witnessed his two best friends sucking face. That could only mean one thing.

"The Camp Jupiter delegation is here, isn't it?"

"Yeah," he muttered. "And they brought Don. I hate that guy..." Percy laughed.

"They brought Don?" Percy said in disbelief. "Why the Hades-"

"Hey, guys," I interceded. "I see them coming." We turned towards Thalia's pine and away from the statue of my mom I had just erected. Oh. Maybe that hasn't been such a good place to make out. Anyways, we were watching the small delegation trek down Half-Blood Hill. The delegation consisted of about ten campers, Reyna, and, yes, Don.

Shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot, and shoot. I checked again for any wrinkles in my shirt. It was a pretty good shirt, with only a couple blood stains. I was wearing pretty okay jeans, so at least I didn't look like a fury. Which may have been what Olivia from the Aphrodite cabin had called me yesterday. Or maybe not.

"Oh, Hades' underpants," Percy groaned. "They brought Octavian." I could already see the augers distasteful expression, and I couldn't help but agree. Though, maybe in less vulgar terms. Maybe.

"You saw him too?" A voice said. We all jumped as Rachel appeared next to us, with blue paint on her nose and her bright red hair in a messy bun. "By Apollo, I hate that guy. I don't care if he was on our side. He could stick that knife up his a-"

"And here they are!" Grover said loudly, covering up Rachel's not-so-nice comment. Good thing, too, because Octavian, Reyna, and their entourage were standing right in front of us.

"Hey!" He supplied, trying to fill the awkward silence as Octavian glared at Rachel.

"Hey." Reyna said politely, but fixed her gaze on me. "We were told that you were leading the meeting with Chiron as counsel. This is correct?" I nodded, and she continued, asking "So, where is this meeting taking place?"

"The Big House," Percy answered before I could respond, pointing at the baby-blue building.

Octavian snorted, sized up the building, and obviously not happy with it, sneered, "Really? What do you take us to be? Idiots? Show us the Senate Hall. Or are you uncivilized Greeks too unorganized to have one?"

I spared him a glare, then turned to Reyna, getting as professional as possible "The Big House is where our meetings take place. Our Camp veterans will be there, along with head counselors. After the meeting, I would like to give you a tour. Does that sound OK to all of you?" I acknowledged the rest of the delegation, and smiled as I saw Frank and Hazel push their way to the front. I had really missed them. Frank wore a new medal, symbolizing his praetorship, and Hazel wore a huge grin and a red Abercrombie shirt that I just knew Frank had bought her.

Reyna nodded forward and I led the way to the Big House. She regarded the new monument I had demanded risen, the most prominent of all of my statues. It was of a man with broad shoulders, a bright smile, and a cat resting at his feet. It was inlaid with little diamonds, all in the form of constellations. The plaque read "Bob, the Titan Who Chose His Own Fate."

It was the least I could do for him.

Across the commons, another statue stood. A Giant. No one had understood why I wanted it there. Sure, they could understand Bob, but Damasen? There was no wonder as to why the Demeter kids had chosen to plant huge trees in front of the golden memorial. I sighed.

Grover drove me out of my stupor by making a disgusted sound. It was Don.


End file.
